2.10
Updated: Sep 17, 2023
Content warnings: violence typical of fight scenes, human incineration, depictions of child abuse, alcohol mention (detail below; skip if you prefer surprises)
Injuries typical of fight scenes include breaking bones, stab wounds, and bleeding.
A main character burns to death—described from their perspective.
Three other characters receive serious burns.
Depictions of child abuse, including mentions of alcoholism and a beaten child.
~.~
There was a second or two where the eight mortals simply regarded The Necromancer in weary silence. Colored flames flickered around the broken, destroyed dimension, casting long shadows across The Necromancer’s face. A thin silver barrier shone around his form, holding the flames at bay. His dark sunglasses were missing, revealing piercing brown eyes.
“Come to get your face punched in again?” Juli asked, cracking their knuckles.
The Necromancer raised an eyebrow. "As entertaining as it would be to see you try, I have things to do, so I'm going to go do them. But I'll leave you with some toys to keep you busy." He waved a hand, and eight pools of shadow materialized—one in front of each of the mortals.
Karyme stepped back warily. Joshua shifted into a fighting stance, bat in hand. Morgan gently slipped Ilia off of her back. Dani braced himself, ready to shield the group, and Lian and Rae exchanged determined looks. Juli set their hands alight. Peter continued to snack on his chips.
As the shadows coalesced into humanoid forms, the flames at Juli’s hands flickered out, and Joshua’s grip on his bat tightened. It wasn’t hard to see why. Every single shadow resembled one of the mortals from head to toe.
The Necromancer disappeared in a burst of silver and black flame, his laughter echoing on the wind.
Before anyone else could react, Dani threw up a shield around the group. Seconds later, a wave of sound smashed into the barrier, followed by a fireball. The combined impact sent Dani sliding backwards on the slick, glassy floor, and it was only Rae’s gentle hands that kept her from falling.
On the other side of the shield, the shadow selves were already preparing for a second round of attacks. Shadow Peter tossed Shadow Joshua a metal bat. A disc of fire hovered between Shadow Juli’s outstretched hands. Shadow Morgan began to levitate on a gust of wind.
Same strategy as last time? Juli asked, unsheathing their knife. Projectile fighters behind the shield, melee fighters out front?
Do we have a choice? Morgan replied. Ilia’s unconscious. We’ll have to protect her. The fierce look in Morgan’s eyes made it clear that this point was non-negotiable.
Fine. Joshua took to the air, hefting his bat over one shoulder. We can’t fight ourselves, so focus on the people you can take down.
With one last look at the group, Joshua shot through the shield and barreled straight into Shadow Peter. The smile on his face was perhaps a bit too wide as he socked Shadow Peter in the jaw, then followed up with a superpowered swing of his bat. Right before the bat connected, there was a popping noise, and Joshua’s bat smashed into Shadow Rae’s face instead. Joshua pulled back, ready to swing his bat a second time, but Shadow Rae was already gone.
From behind Dani’s shield, Peter used his telekinesis to launch a barrage of knives at Shadow Karyme. At the same time, Juli darted into the open, running towards Shadow Lian with a flaming knife at the ready. Shadow Dani blocked both attacks with a well-placed barrier, forming a cylindrical shield around the three clones. A few seconds later, Shadow Rae popped into existence behind the barrier.
“Well, gee!” Peter taunted. His voice carried surprisingly well through the space. “I didn’t know all of you were such cowards!”
An inscrutable emotion passed over Shadow Dani’s face, and for a split second, the shield flickered in place. Peter grinned.
The shadows have feelings, he reported, flinging a knife at Shadow Juli. The dagger embedded itself in the shadow clone’s thigh, eliciting a pained hiss.
Well, great, Joshua snarked. Maybe we can give them therapy and have tea time together. He brought his bat down on Shadow Peter’s head.
No, Peter’s right, Karyme interjected. This might be useful later.
Joshua tried to brain Shadow Peter again, but he found himself facing Shadow Rae instead—and then, before Joshua could react, Shadow Rae teleported back behind Shadow Dani’s shield. Joshua groaned.
Karyme, you can read where Rae’s clone is going to go, right? Joshua asked. You and Lian distract the bastard so he stops getting in my way.
Lian made the “aye aye, cap’n!” from Spongebob play in Joshua’s head, and then, under Karyme’s direction, they started blasting nightcore music into Shadow Rae’s head every time xe tried to teleport, breaking the clone’s concentration.
Shadow Joshua soared into the sky, propelled upwards by an unnatural air current. Courtesy of Shadow Morgan, the winds continued to be at his back as he dove straight for Juli, and though Juli tried to throw themself to the side, high winds whipped around them, forcing them right back into the trajectory of Joshua’s bat.
Rae! Karyme cried.
On it! Rae sprinted through Dani’s barrier and switched places with Shadow Joshua as soon as xe was through, sparing Juli a concussion. Shadow Joshua’s momentum carried him forward, and he stumbled into empty space. Before the clone could recover, Peter tossed a dagger his way, nailing the shadow clone through the shoulder.
Meanwhile, Morgan fired six shots through the shield, aiming for their own shadow clone. The wind knocked the bullets out of the air before they got anywhere close, but at the very least, the maneuver distracted Shadow Morgan long enough for Lian to send a high-pitched electronic screech in that direction. The sound wave swept Shadow Morgan off of their feet.
Morgan went to reload her gun, then grimaced as she realized she was out of ammo. For a second, she contemplated using her powers, but… Morgan swallowed. She couldn’t afford to mess up again—not in a battle as critical as this one.
Peter saved her the trouble of debating any further. His eyes remained on the battle as he silently floated a clip of freshly materialized ammo over to Morgan. A smile crossed Morgan’s face. She reloaded her pistol.
A few feet away, Rae was on the run. A fireball soared through the air, and Rae ducked to the side, narrowly avoiding the projectile. The heat from the flames singed xyr ear, and liquid metal dripped onto Rae’s shoulder as xyr metal earring started to melt. Rae cursed.
Peter! Rae yelled.
Yeah, yeah. Peter materialized a rock and tossed it to the side, behind the safety of Dani’s shield. Seconds later, Rae blipped into existence where the rock had been. Xe stumbled forward, hands on xyr knees, panting heavily.
Across the battlefield, Juli and Shadow Peter were engaged in a knife fight. Every time Juli got close, they found their knife inexplicably bending away from Shadow Peter, and every time Juli tried to dodge, Shadow Peter’s knife course corrected mid-swing. As a result, Juli was covered in superficial cuts from head to toe, though Shadow Peter had yet to land a deep hit.
Stupid fucking telekinetic little gremlin, Juli muttered, slashing at Peter with their flaming blade. They got the feeling that the shadow clone was just playing with them.
Just as Juli finally managed to stab Shadow Peter, a fireball hit them squarely in the back.
It was a new sensation for Juli. Although they couldn’t control flames that weren’t their own, they also couldn’t get burned by fire, either—or at least, that is what Juli had believed until this very moment.
Tongues of foreign flame lashed out from the point of impact, branding Juli’s back in a starburst pattern. Fiery serpents wrapped around Juli’s arms, and with unnatural vigor, the flames leapt from Juli’s arms to their torso to their legs. Before Juli knew it, the flames were swallowing them whole.
Searing pain enveloped them. Their vision went white. Tears pricked the corners of their eyes, but they were too dehydrated to cry, and with all the oxygen burnt away, they couldn’t even scream. It was a miserable way to die, really, and Juli spent their last moments praying for their life to end.
With a thud, Juli’s burnt, bloodied corpse fell to the ground.
Karyme watched in horrified silence. She didn’t click on the status box in the corner of her vision. She already knew what it would tell her. Flames continued to eat away at the charred corpse, and within seconds, Juli had turned to ash.
As the last bits of dust scattered on the wind, something caught Karyme’s eye.
Where Juli’s heart had once been, a faint, baby pink light twinkled in the air—a solitary beacon of hope. Just as the pinprick started to fade, orbs of red and orange light floated up from the fog, suffusing the air with a gentle scarlet glow. Like planets revolving around a waning pink sun, scarlet lights swirled through the air in a radiant whirlpool. Pink light poured forth from the vortex, forming a luminescent, humanoid mass.
As the glow faded, time rewound itself before Karyme’s eyes. Ash coalesced back into flesh. Burns vanished from blackened skin. Color returned to once-charred fabric. And like a phoenix, Juli rose again.
The moment the soles of their shoes hit the floor, Juli stumbled forward, a rattling cough echoing miserably from their throat. Out of sheer luck, they managed to duck under a hit from Shadow Joshua’s bat. Before any of the other shadows could deal further damage to Juli, Rae switched places with them, and then Karyme was there to hug Juli as they let out a terrified, visceral sob.
With Juli off the field, Joshua was the only one out there to combat Shadow Juli, Shadow Joshua, Shadow Morgan, and Shadow Peter. Even Joshua couldn’t win a four-on-one fight. Peter let out a sigh and materialized a knife. Time to take matters into his own hands.
Peter sprinted forward, making a beeline for his shadow clone. Shadow Peter extended two hands, and Peter felt a wall of force driving him back, but Peter used his own telekinesis to push forward. It felt like his brain was being thrown into a trash compactor as he struggled to make headway.
And then a bullet hit Shadow Peter in the shoulder. In the split second that Shadow Peter let his guard down, Peter rushed forward and plunged his knife into Shadow Peter’s gut. The clone disintegrated in a burst of silver and black flames.
Morgan smiled as their shot hit its mark. They couldn’t really take credit for the hit—not when a gentle lavender hand had guided the bullet into Shadow Peter’s shoulder—but they derived some satisfaction from Shadow Peter’s death anyway.
With that out of the way, Morgan turned towards the next opponent, pistol held out in front of her—and then, as her gaze landed on Shadow Morgan, her heart dropped.
Morgan could see what was about to happen. They could tell by the way their shadow self widened its stance and reached into the sky. Joshua was too busy fending off attacks from Shadow Juli and Shadow Joshua to notice the sudden drop in air pressure, the smell of ozone, the distinct crackle. He wasn’t going to be able to dodge in time. Before Morgan knew what they were doing, their feet were moving, and they were calling upon a gust of wind to propel them towards Joshua.
Shadow Morgan let loose a bolt of lightning.
Maybe it was because Morgan was tired of Joshua protecting her—because she was done playing the role of guardee. Maybe it was the guilt that came with hitting him in the arena. It wasn’t because she liked Joshua in any capacity.
But for some reason or another, Morgan pushed Joshua out of the way, and the lightning strike hit her instead.
As the raw electricity scorched Morgan’s skin, a scream escaped her lips. Her muscles spasmed out of her control, leaving her writhing on the ground inches from a stunned Joshua. She could barely piece together conscious thoughts as fresh agony coursed through her veins. Just as the pain crescendoed to unbearable levels, a tendril of blue flame sprang from the ground, wrapping around Morgan, and a soothing light enveloped her.
When the light cleared, it was as if Morgan had never been hit by lightning at all, with one key difference—now, she was pissed.
Cover for me, Morgan commanded, throwing the thought out to no one in particular. Joshua scowled, but he begrudgingly forced Shadow Juli away from Morgan, and every time Shadow Joshua tried to get close, Rae switched places with him.
With a slow, deep breath, Morgan let their eyes slip shut, focusing on the phantom pain radiating through their chest. They let themself be flooded with raw emotion: with smoldering frustration, crushing guilt, fiery anger. As the feelings blossomed in their chest, swirling together into an unsavory stew, the air pressure began to drop around Morgan, and for once they leaned into that sensation instead of away from it.
Morgan had been told their whole life that emotions were a weakness, but now those emotions became a strength for Morgan to draw on as she fueled the rapidly forming storm overhead. For a second, acrid fear rose in Morgan’s throat. She’d never been able to control a storm like this, but—
A sage green barrier formed around Morgan and her shadow clone, fencing the storm in.
Thanks, Dani, Morgan said earnestly.
Don’t mention it, Dani shot back. Just don’t mess it up.
A wild grin crossed Morgan’s face as she faced her shadow clone. Time for some revenge.
Karyme winced as she watched an absolutely unnatural amount of lightning pour forth from the storm cloud on the other side of the battlefield, vaporizing Shadow Morgan. Her eyes glinted purple as she confirmed the death of the shadow clone.
Two down, six to go.
Karyme shot a worried glance in Dani’s direction. He seemed to be struggling to keep up two shields at once, and it was no wonder—Shadow Lian kept sending focused bursts of sound at the two barriers, zeroing in on weak points under the direction of Shadow Karyme. Unless someone could break Shadow Dani’s barrier and take those two down, Dani would probably pass out soon.
Juli seemed to come to the same conclusion, because they rose to their feet, still a little unsteady.
Peter, Juli said flatly. Throw me.
Wait! Karyme cried. Are you sure? You—you just—
Peter, Juli repeated, their voice firm. Just do it.
Alley oop! Peter backflipped out of the way of Shadow Juli’s knife. Once he was in a position of relative safety, he floated Juli into the air, then telekinetically flung him across the battlefield.
Baby pink flames sprang to life at Juli’s fingertips as they flew through the air. Juli was a little startled, at first—their flames had never had a specific color before. But as the fire gushed from Juli’s core, wreathing their form in flickering pink light, a grin crossed Juli’s face. Something about this felt right in a way that it never had before.
Like a flaming bullet, Juli crashed into Shadow Dani’s shield with enough force to shatter the barrier entirely. As shards of sage green glass fell around Juli, Shadow Dani fell to his knees and vaporized in a burst of silver.
Joshua kicked his shadow clone to the side and rocketed back into the air. His muscles ached, and that package of sandwich cookies from earlier was wearing off, but inexplicably, he found the energy to dive towards the shattered shield. Joshua aimed for Shadow Karyme, but at the last second, Shadow Rae swapped in.
God, Joshua was getting sick of seeing this bastard’s face.
His boot connected with Shadow Rae’s skull with enough force to snap the clone’s neck. As the clone vaporized into sparks of silver, Joshua swung his bat at Shadow Karyme. The metal smashed into the shadow clone’s jaw with a satisfying crack, and a feral grin crossed Joshua’s face as his second victim disintegrated. Which left...
Joshua’s face fell a little as he faced Shadow Lian. For a second, he hesitated. Then, Shadow Lian released an ear-splitting screech directly in his face, and his inhibitions quickly disappeared. He knocked Shadow Lian over with a punch to the solar plexus, and Juli’s knife delivered the finishing blow.
And then Joshua was swept off of his feet as a tendril of flame grabbed him by the ankle.
Juli whirled around, looking for the source of whatever had snatched Joshua away, and then their jaw practically hit the ground in shock. At some point, Shadow Juli had set themself ablaze, and they were now levitating in a veritable sea of dark fire. As Shadow Juli raised their hands to the sky, the swirling flames coalesced into a massive fiery octopus with Shadow Juli at its center. Dangling from three of the octopus’ tentacles were the limp, unconscious forms of Peter, Joshua, and Morgan.
Juli watched in horror as flames started to creep up Peter and Morgan’s limbs. The smell of burning feathers permeated the air.
Juli. Rae’s voice was shaky, but as xe sprinted up to Juli, xe exuded calm. I need you to throw a knife at me.
“WHAT?” Juli was so taken off guard that he forgot to stick to telepathy. “You want me to KILL you?”
Rae shook xyr head. I’m not going to die. Xe looked resolutely at the swirling vortex of flames around Shadow Juli. Dani, you got it in you to make another shield?
Sure, Dani snapped, his voice strained. Shadow Joshua rammed the shield around Dani, Karyme, and Ilia, causing Dani to flinch in pain. Just make it quick.
Rae nodded. Okay. Xe looked at Juli, eyes shining with determination. Aim for the heart, okay?
Juli gulped. And then, with deadly precision, they threw their dagger straight at Rae’s heart.
The switch happened too quickly for Juli to process. All he saw was a dagger spearing someone’s heart, and then a burst of silver and black as that person disintegrated. The fiery octopus began to dissipate, and as the tentacles faded into sparks, four bodies fell to the ground: Joshua, Morgan, Peter, and…
Wait. Four?
Juli ran over to the rapidly receding sea of flames, heart pounding. When their gaze landed on an unconscious Rae, they let out an audible sigh of relief. Xe had, at some point, switched with Shadow Juli, and Dani’s barrier had kept him safe from the worst of the flames.
The same couldn’t be said for the other three. Juli winced as they looked over charred, blistering skin. Peter, Morgan, and Joshua were alive, but they’d be in a lot of pain when they awoke.
Crack.
Shadow Joshua slammed into the shield yet again, and Dani stumbled back, clutching her head with one hand. The other hand was focused on maintaining the shield against Shadow Joshua’s assault. Juli tried to stab Shadow Joshua, but he simply flew out of their reach, and when Juli flung a fireball up at the bird man, he dodged with inhuman speed.
Shadow Joshua rammed the shield again.
Can’t someone do something about him? Dani groaned.
He keeps fucking moving out of the way! Juli shot back.
I have— Karyme swallowed. I have an idea. She looked over at Joshua’s unconscious form. It felt like violating his privacy to even suggest this, but was there such a thing as privacy when the eight of them had all dreamed of each others’ worst moments?
Lian, I’m going to tell you some things about Joshua, Karyme explained. I need you to get close and broadcast what I tell you directly into Shadow Joshua’s ears.
What? Lian launched a stirring rendition of “Snowhalation” at Shadow Joshua, forcing him back. Why?
These clones feel emotion, Karyme said miserably. Maybe they have the same trauma we do.
Lian swallowed. They suddenly did not like this idea.
Karyme touched a finger to Lian’s temple, and Lian’s mind was flooded with information about Joshua: his favorite color (green), his favorite food (dark chocolate espresso beans), his favorite coffee brand. And then there were the not-so-pleasant things. The memories of iron fingers twisting through bloody wings, plucking feathers one by one. Joel leaning against a wall, purple bruises across his cheekbones. The smell of alcohol and cigar smoke.
Lian pulled away. This wasn’t right. They shouldn’t know all these things.
A crack rang in the background as Shadow Joshua punched Juli in the jaw. Lian winced. Karyme had told Lian to get close, to be direct, but as Shadow Joshua’s bat sent Juli flying, Lian realized they’d never be able to approach the clone—not like this. It was now or never.
Lian extended both hands in front of them, reaching towards Shadow Joshua, and a cacophony of sounds began to play. Snatches of angry voices rang through the air, mixed in with Joel’s whimpers, the sound of glass bottles shattering, a door slamming—and then Joel’s voice.
“You’re a murderer, Joshua Tenine.”
It was as if all the air left Shadow Joshua’s lungs at once. He fell to his knees, and before he could so much as breathe, Dani pulled out a pistol and shot him four times in the heart. The clone burst into silver flames, and the ashes scattered on the wind.
Dani stepped back, taking stock of the damage. Dani himself had a massive migraine, and Juli was laying bruised and broken on the ground. Ilia was still out cold. Rae, Joshua, Morgan, and Peter were covered in burns. At least Lian and Karyme were okay.
Tendrils of colored flame rose from the ground, brushing against burns and bruises and broken bones. Dani watched with a grimace as injuries began to fade, and as colored flames continued to lick at their heels, those who fell began to wake.
Still helping us from here, huh, Dani mused. Goddamn immortals.
He was too tired to say anything more. The eight mortals gathered in a cluster once again, and as they looked across the destroyed landscape—tired, hungry, dehydrated, worn down—they came to a startling realization.
None of them knew how to escape from here.
As if in answer, the Necromancer rematerialized in front of the group, hovering a few feet in the air, legs crossed as if sitting in an invisible armchair.
The Necromancer grinned. "Did they not tell you? Only the Ennead can let you out, and they are... otherwise occupied. It’s taking everything they have not to kill you right now."
“Okay,” Peter said hoarsely, his lungs still recovering from smoke inhalation. “Then we wait for them to finish what they’re doing. Simple.”
The Necromancer laughed. “What makes you think you’ll last that long?” Dark lightning crackled at his fingertips. Dani braced, ready to make another shield.
Just as the Necromancer was about to attack, nine ghostly apparitions materialized in the air, each glowing a different color. Felix came to a stop near Karyme, eyes alight with turquoise. Ven smiled warmly at Lian and Rae. Mateen brushed a red hand over Morgan’s healing burns.
As the nine immortals gathered, they formed a circle around the mortals, holding hands with each other. The Necromancer flicked his wrist. Bolts of dark lightning rained down on the group from every possible angle.
It was as if the lightning changed course midair, drawn to the immortals like metal to a magnet. As the lightning grew stronger, though, it was clear that acting as a human shield was taking its toll.
When Ridwan turned to face Dani, their light was already starting to fade. Minerva and Silpa flickered in the wind as they shielded Juli. Jinal hovered resolutely in front of Peter even as her hands started to turn to dust.
“What are you doing?!” Lian cried, reaching a hand towards the immortals. Haku looked back at Lian with a serene smile. Cracks had begun to appear along the side of their face.
I’m keeping my promise, they replied. Just as I told you.
The Necromancer’s grin widened. The lightning grew stronger still.
"Hey, assholes!” Peter yelled. “Stop being so self-sacrificial and work with us for once!"
If the Ennead heard Peter’s warning, they did not heed it. They continued to shield the mortals from the attack, and as they did so, they began to fade one by one, overcome by silver light.
Jinal was the first to go. Then Felix, Ven, Minerva. Silpa, Mateen, Ridwan, Haku—
Kai locked eyes with a half-conscious Joshua.
Say hi to Joel for me.
And then Kai was gone.
~.~
The sound of shattering glass. A blinding flash of white.
~.~
When the light cleared, the eight mortals were standing in the pocket dimension with an unconscious Ilia at their feet. The rest of the immortals were nowhere to be seen.
To the left is an instrumental track written to accompany this chapter.
Comments